A corner of Bangkok (Photo: AP) Director of the Budget Bureau at the Ministry of Finance Chalermphol said the revision would bring the budget to over 3.7 trillion THB, up from 3.6 trillion THB previously planned.
The budget gap will widen to 865.7 billion THB or 152.7 billion THB more than previously targeted.
The 2025 fiscal year begins on October 2, 2024. However, the 2024 budget was only approved late last month, far behind schedule because of delays in forming the government after the election in May last year.
The announcement of changes to the 2025 budget comes as the government continues to seek funding sources for its signature 500-billion-THB digital wallet scheme, a one-time giveaway of 10,000 THB to 50 million Thai people aged from 16.
Chalermphol said the budget would be used to stimulate the economy but did not specify if it would be used to fund the digital wallet programme.
Stimulus measures, including the digital wallet, are “extremely necessary” as the Thai economy is coming off a decade of average sub-2% growth and faced other problems including uneven economic recovery post pandemic and high interest rates, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin stressed in an announcement last week.
The World Bank on April 1 cut its forecast for Thai GDP growth this year to 2.8%, from 3.2% earlier, citing a global trade slowdown and delays in fiscal budget disbursement./.
VNA
